The peak hours of business at the posh shopping centres are in between 1700hrs to 2130hrs of the day. I am sure the shop owners will not mind opening late, say after 12:00 in the day and will definitely prefer to keep the business open till late evening.

The hot summer is another good reason for them to expect the majority customers in the evening.

May be it was an oversight, and the authorities did not consider that the large number of poor salesmen and all other workers employed in the shopping malls will be deprived of their one day weekly off as a fallout of the decision. In this country in many private factories, industries and other business establishments/offices etc poor workers are intimidated to work all the seven days and even without any compensation/overtime. Hope, The CTG will address this fundamental issue. By keeping shops open all 7days more electricity will be consumed with no tangible gain for the business community. True, load shedding has been brought down considerably to the great relief of all. Credit goes to the CTG for efficient planning and resolving this perennial problem.

So, I appeal to Adviser Tapan Chowdhury to review the decision and make it a pragmatic one.

Mohammed Zakaria